Black Mountain (25 page)

‘Tonight's dinner,' he told Elly as he swung back into his seat, ‘but from now on we'll catch our own.'

They continued on until the sealed road ran out. Then they were on a rough track among the trees and palms, bumping along until they came to a secluded house set on the high side of the track, facing the sea. It was an unpretentious cottage, built of timber with a wrap-around verandah and shutters on the windows, and surrounded on three sides by forest, with the front open to the beach beyond.

Mitchell pulled the car in alongside the house and turned to Elly, smiling. ‘Well, here we are. It's not much to look at but it's my hideaway when I need peace and quiet.'

Elly looked around, taking in the solitude, the deserted beach only metres away, and listened to the murmur of the sea. ‘It's certainly the perfect getaway.'

‘Yes. It's rare to see another soul down here. Now, let's go inside.'

Collecting their bags and shopping they climbed the two steps up to the deck, where Mitchell took a key from his pocket and unlocked the door.

Inside, one room extended right across the front to form a large, open living area, with a kitchen at the back. A table and chairs, a big, squashy sofa, a couple of mismatched armchairs and a few cane chairs with bright cushions, welcomed them in.

Mitchell tossed his gear onto the table and crossed to the windows and opened the shutters, and light flooded the room.

Elly looked out. Across the other side of the track a short path wound in amongst the trees down to the deserted beach, with the ocean visible through the tall palms. The tide was out now and the sea was quiet after the storm, its surface rippling gently, spilling a fine line of white foam onto the golden sand.

‘I bought it like this a couple of years ago, as is, furniture and all, from an old couple who were moving to be closer to their family. There're a couple of bedrooms at the back, and the bathroom,' Mitchell told her. ‘Your bedroom's the one on the right. Toss your things in there, and then come on out the back.'

When Elly walked out of the back door a few moments later she gasped with delight. The garden was fenced on both sides, with creepers covering the fences and the forest visible on the other side. On one side of the garden a swimming pool was set into the ground amidst a natural setting of rocks and tropical greenery, and a heavy timber table and benches and a barbecue sat on grass under a simple thatched roof shelter on the other side. The whole area was open to the rainforest at the back, and the garden and forest merged together as one. It was like living in the forest.

The day had heated up now, and Elly agreed when Mitchell suggested a swim before lunch. After the swim they lunched on crusty bread and cheese, and then spent the afternoon in and out of the pool, reading or talking in between dips, until the sun dropped low in the sky.

Then they dried off and donned shorts and tops and walked through the palm trees down to the beach and along the sand.

When they were tired they sat down and watched the sun drop below the horizon. As the day darkened the sky came alive with colour, deep pink shot with coral, and a long band of golden orange and then still more pink, colouring the few stray clouds and spreading up and spilling over to merge with the sky. The tall palms were silhouetted black against the light show behind them as the beach became shadowy, and they walked back in the dark.

Mitchell cooked the fish on the barbecue while Elly prepared a salad, and they ate their meal on the outside table by the light of candles, and washed it down with chilled white wine.

And when she went to bed that night Elly was pleased she'd come.

Chapter 41

The next day they were up early and Mitchell asked Elly if she was ready for her first lesson in fishing. When she told him she was, he brought out a basket of fishing tackle and a couple of rods and they carried the lot down to the water's edge, where he launched his “tinny” that was hidden among the trees. After a few pulls on the rope the outboard motor sprang into life and they headed out to the deep water, where he stopped and dropped anchor.

‘I think you'd best start out with a hand line,' he told Elly, opening the basket and taking out the tackle. ‘You can graduate to a rod later.'

‘Okay.' She nodded.

So he showed her how to bait the line. Although she shuddered at the feel and look of the bait, she set her jaw and followed his instructions. When it was done she tossed the line away from the boat, as he had shown her, and settled down to wait.

Meanwhile Mitchell took his rod, baited it, and cast out some distance from the boat.

They sat there in silence with Elly wondering how many fish she was going to catch. After a while she felt a tug on the line and pulled it in. It came up with an empty hook.

‘Fish took your bait,' Mitchell told her. ‘You need to bait up again.'

Wrinkling her nose she repeated the process. Over the next hour she watched as Mitchell reeled in two good sized bream, while each time her line came up empty.

As the sun rose in the sky the heat increased and Mitchell pulled up the anchor and they headed back in, with Elly determined she would master this fishing bit before the time was up.

When they reached shore they pulled the tinny up amongst the trees again and carried their gear back up to the cottage. Mitchell cleant the fish he'd caught and put it in the fridge ready for tonight's dinner.

The afternoon was spent in much the same way as the previous one, and as Elly relaxed she found herself wondering again why Mitchell had brought her instead of Fancy Pants.

It was after they'd dined on the fish and were sitting outside with their wine that evening that she decided to ask him.

‘I can't help wondering,' she began, moving her glass around idly on the table top, ‘why you didn't ask Fancy Pants to come here with you, instead of me.'

Mitchell's head jerked back as a look of amazement crossed his face.

‘Tracy?' he exclaimed. ‘She's the last person I'd ask to come here. I told you, that finished ages ago.'

Elly lifted her brows, eyes wide. ‘Oh! But I saw you together in your car,' she told him accusingly, ‘and she was all over you.'

‘What?' He frowned, shaking his head. ‘The only time she's been in my car since I was injured was once when she came to see me in Cairns, suggesting we get back together again. But I let her know I wasn't interested.'

‘Really?' Her heart quivered. ‘Then I guess that's the time I saw you together.'

‘It had to be, because it's the only time.' He spent a moment looking at her with narrowed eyes. ‘And how about you? You didn't seem exactly anxious to pursue our acquaintance after we found the
stripling
. You didn't act as if you were pleased when I asked you to come here. I suppose you're still pining after lover boy?'

It was Elly's turn to frown. ‘Lover boy? I suppose you mean Jackson? I was never in love with him. I told you, we were just friends.'

‘Good enough friends to arrange to go away on a weekend with him. What would've happened if he had turned up?'

Elly pursed her lips. ‘We'll never know, will we? Because he didn't come. But I can assure you that whatever might have happened, I was never in love with him. I found him attractive, yes, and he was good company, and, yes, maybe I
might
have gone to bed with him if he'd come to Brisbane, but that was it. It never went deeper than that. And I'm certainly not pining after him.'

‘And after that? When he turned up again in Cooktown, telling you how much he loved you, what then? Did you ever consider his proposal to go away with him?'

‘No.'

A smile spread slowly over Mitchell's face as he watched her, and he switched tack.

‘So did it upset you when you saw me with Tracy?' he asked, after a moment.

Elly tossed her head. ‘Of course not,' she answered coolly. ‘Why would it?'

‘No, of course it wouldn't.' He smiled again as he reached for the bottle in the wine cooler. ‘And I think that deserves another glass of wine.'

He topped up their glasses. ‘A toast,' he said, raising his glass. ‘To friendship.'

With pleasure tinged with sadness, Elly responded. ‘To friendship.'

They spent their days companionably. Their phones were out of range so they had no contact with the outside world. Early in the morning they fished. Elly was excited when she pulled in her first fish on the hand line, but she declined the offer to try her luck with a rod, leaving that to Mitchell, who usually caught enough for their dinner.

They swam in the pool in the heat of the day, and they talked endlessly into the night. She listened to his stories of his days in the police force, and told him of the highs and lows of her time in the beauty salon—tales of clients who were so lovely she looked forward to pampering them, and of the few who were bitches.

They ate simple food and drank chilled wine.

They took walks on the beach.

And one day when the skies opened and the shiny rods of rain turned solid as they grew into a wall of water, they stayed inside and played cards and the board games they found in a cupboard, left behind by the elderly couple. And they bickered over points, and how many houses you could put on Mayfair, and whether a flush beat a full hand. But without malice, with good-natured banter.

And they laughed a good deal, teasing each other gently.

They were living in a suspended time warp. And the days passed and grew into a week, and Elly knew the time had come for them to go back. And she was sad.

As the afternoon waned Mitchell took her by the hand. ‘Come for a walk,' he said.

They walked hand in hand along the beach until they came to a hollow in the sand, and there they sat watching the sun sliding into the sea, watching the sky change colour. She, leaning forward with her hands clasped around her knees, and him with his arm draped across her shoulders, watching the fading sky turn to velvety blackness, studded with the glittering pinpoints of celestial diamonds. And they watched as the moon came up, and it bathed them with its silvery light.

‘You know, Elly, I don't think I've ever had a friend as good as you before,' he told her.

Elly turned her head to look at him, feeling a catch in her throat. ‘I can say the same. I feel as if we've known each other forever, that I can tell you anything.'

He nodded. ‘Me too.'

She thought for a moment. ‘In fact there's one thing I've wondered about, that I'd like to ask you.'

‘Oh, what's that?'

‘In the cave, when you found me, I thought afterwards that I'd heard you call me your darling.'

‘Yes, so I did, didn't I? Do you mind?'

‘Mind?' She drew a shivery breath as lightheaded warmth filled her. ‘No, I don't mind.' She smiled at him. ‘In fact, I think I rather like it.'

‘In that case, I might have to keep it up. That's if you think you'll keep on liking it.'

‘Hmm.' She pretended to think about it. ‘I think I would, you know.'

He was silent for a minute. ‘Yes, I think I could tell you most things. Except that there's one thing I could tell you that I'm frightened might spoil our perfect friendship.'

Elly tilted her head at him enquiringly. ‘Oh. What's that? Surely it can't be that bad?'

‘You'll have to judge.'

He took a deep breath and leant towards her. Their lips were very close. And then he was kissing her, and she was kissing him back, and she felt that deep thrill again, that sense of connection that went so much deeper than just passion. Although she felt that too, a strong, heady heat that set the blood bubbling in her veins and caused a yearning inside her.

When they finally drew apart she looked into his face, to see his eyes shining, but with a hint of uncertainty lurking in them.

‘What were you going to tell me?' she asked.

‘Well, you see, it's just that I think I love you.'

Her heart went into overdrive, but she kept her voice calm. ‘I see. And you think that might spoil our friendship?'

‘Well, it might. Depending on how you feel about it.'

‘I think I feel quite good about it. Because I think I love you too.' She couldn't keep the catch from her voice.

‘Well, that's a relief.' He drew a deep breath and gazed deeply into her eyes. ‘But just to be sure …' he let the words go as his lips came down again and he traced her lips with tiny kisses, softly, slowly, then they worked their way down her throat, and over the soft mounds at the top of her breasts.

Elly gave a little moan of pleasure, and his lips came back to hers, this time with an intensity that made her forget everything except the deep longing inside her. And she kissed him back with a passion she'd never suspected she was capable of.

Easing her gently back onto the sand he slid her top off, and his hands were caressing her. Elly felt the sand rough on her back but she didn't care.

They made love for the first time there under the starry sky, with the sea murmuring in their ears and the soft breeze cooling their naked bodies.

Elly felt again that deep, strong connection, a sense of oneness as their bodies melded together, his mouth with hers and her skin with his, and then mounting, soaring pleasure and, finally, ecstatic release, way beyond anything she had known before.

And at the end of it, as she lay in the shelter of his arms, perfect peace and happiness and contentment as they lay with their bodies twined together.

When they finally drew apart and dressed, and walked back along the beach hand in hand, Elly knew it was right for them to be lovers as well as friends, however their future might turn out.

As they neared the house Mitchell squeezed her hand.

‘You know, I've just had an interesting thought,' he told her.

‘Oh. What is it?' she asked, stopping to turn and look at him.